


Not A Dancer

by JakePeralta



Series: 200AUChallenge [6]
Category: Girl Meets World
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ballet, Alternate Universe - Dance, Angst, Ballet, Everyone Is A Dancer, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Multi, Slow Burn, Texas!Lucas, lots of friendships, lots of surprises
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-10
Updated: 2016-01-24
Packaged: 2018-05-05 22:19:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 19,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5392370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JakePeralta/pseuds/JakePeralta
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Maya Hart has always dreamt of attending The Dance Academy, but finds that the reality isn't as nice as she'd imagined. She's underachieving, stressed, and her luck just isn't getting any better. Maya and her friends are all going to make a lot of mistakes and make a lot of memories, most of them not even on the stage.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Late Already

 

 

Maya watched her own fingers relax  at the end of her outstretched arms, taking note of the slight sway of her hand as she pointed her toes ready to move them. Her fingers curled, moving as her entire body span round twice on a single set of toes. Her legs held strong as she kept her eyes fixated on a spot in front of her. The rest of the spin came with the moving her arms round quickly and tucking them in when she finished. 

The moment she landed Maya sprung off the floor with two legs and did the splits as best she could in the air before landing with a thud. Her feet throbbed. She wasn't even sure she could feel her toes anymore. 

Maya had pushed herself harder in the last two weeks than she had done her entire life. She'd tore her feet to shreds but it was all worth it.  

Running over to the stereo, she changed the track to something more modern and upbeat, positioning herself to begin an unchoreographed dance. 

They never tell you how painful dancing pointe  is going to be before you try it. Maya still remembers the first time she put the shoes on, how right they felt on her feet. It felt incredible to own something new for once, something that was just for her and nobody was going to take away. The shoes were perfect. Maya remembered how much she'd been upset after her first session in them, when her blood had tarnished the fabric. She'd cared more about the shoes than the pain, which was typical of Maya. 

H urricane started to play from the stereo. Maya focused on taking a deep breathe. For a moment, the rest of the world vanished. 

_'There's a place way down in bedsty.  Where a boy lives behind bricks.'  _

Maya took a pointed step forward with every beat, circling the room nearly before she felt like it was the right time to start really moving. 

_ Got an eye for girls of eighteen.' _  Her left arm extended, gently circling from the bottom of her stomach, around over her head and back down to her side. 

 

Both arms circled in front of her, triple toe point and quick plié .

As soon as the chorus began, Maya lost her train of thought. She focused on the music, allowing herself to  forget what she was doing and just move how she felt fit. Her arms went out and in, her body twisted, her skips and steps went from fast as lightening one moment, to balancing her perfectly still a second later. 

She felt completely unstoppable and entirely in control the entire time. 

Air gushed over her bare arms as she moved, her hair began to loosen slightly and her breathing became paced without her having to think about it. The music danced became her partner, the two of them dancing together and following her as much as she was following it. 

Strange, Maya thought, how something so chaotic could bring her so much peace.

Tomorrow, the day that mattered the most, became a distant thought.  

A couple months ago she applied to the Dance Academy in  Nebraska. Tomorrow she would start the week where she'd either pass or fail the entry exam. She was ready. She could do this. 

* * *

 

The taxi to the academy made her feel physically sick. Her cab was so late it didn't even look like she was going to get there on time. She'd been so good at getting her flight on time and calling a cab. Maya's mind raced with pessimistic thoughts on how she'd not be allowed to audition because of her lateness. She paid the second they got there and  sped out the cab, running faster than she'd ever run before even with her luggage.  She had ten minutes to change and get to the main hall. 

She stopped the first girl she saw when she entered the academy, hardly stopping to appreciate the fact that she was there, there in the place of her dreams. Maya was a firm believer that hope was for suckers, allowing the academy to be the only thing she'd ever hoped for in her life. Now she was here she couldn't believe it was true. The girl had long brunette hair tied up in a tight bun. She was skinny as hell, elegant small arms and dainty little legs. She looked undeniable sweet, and extended a smile when she saw Maya.  

"Can you tell me where the changing rooms are please?" Maya asked, and the girl looked around her. 

"Awh! You're here for auditions too! Third door on the...left... I think. Good luck!" Her voice was light and sweet, like it could never sound negative even if it tried. 

"Thank you!" Maya rushed down the corridor. She left her main bags to the side to pick them up later, just taking her sport bags in with the things she'd need for the audition. She wasted no time taking off her shirt, leaving her bra exposed as she tried to find her leotard. 

Somebody  wolf whistled behind her. Maya snapped around to see a tall, blonde boy behind her, averting his gaze. 

"Damn, well, I was not expected this today." He teased as Maya covered herself up a little. 

"What the hell are you doing in the girls changing room?" She demanded and he just shrugged.

"Pretty sure those are urinals back there shortie, or maybe you ballet girls have evolved to stand when they pee and I just wasn't notified." Maya now took the time to look over the corner of the changing room and she spotted urinals. Oh god. Not today, she thought, not now. 

The blonde boy had already picked up her shirt and was holding it out for her. She came up close to him, taking her shirt back with a snatch. 

"Sorry didn't  realize I was interrupting something." Another male voice came from the  door way  and Maya quickly shoved her shirt back on while the blonde was distracted.  Maya caught sight of the new boy. He was dressed in his dance gear already, his muscular body showing through his tight tank top. His hair as mahogany color, and his eyes looked like they matched perfectly. He looked older than Maya, and she noticed his good looks immediately. 

"No! You weren't! I was told this was the girls changing room, I'm sorry!" She raced out before she had a chance to  embarrass herself anymore. She tried the next door along and it was most certainly the girls changing room and luckily this one didn’t have company. 

She got to the main hall the minute auditions started. She was out of  breath, messy looking and stressed but at least she was there. She looked around the room and spotted the brunette girl who'd told her the wrong room and the blonde boy she'd just had an unpleasant encounter with. 

"Welcome to audition week of the Nebraska  Dance Academy ." The stern looking lady at the front began. "By just being here today, you are extremely lucky. This academy is the first stage of the rest of your lives as dancers." Maya was just able to make out the blonde boy rolling his eyes. Huh. Maybe some people didn't want to be here as much as she did. 

"Today I'll be giving you simple exercises, a few bits of choreography  and then you'll be given the day to explore the campus and get settled into your own rooms. Today is not a test, but first impressions are very important. Take a place on the barres, we'll begin with a warm up. " 

The crowd scattered to line up along either of the barres at either side of the room. Maya did the math. Based on last years numbers, only half the people in this room would be selected. The boy in front of her took a tiny step back and fell, almost colliding with her. Maya's hand shot up and steadied him automatically. He turned to face her for a moment. 

"Thank you. Sorry, I'm such a klutz." He said politely. "Farkle." 

"Maya." She replied, then got back to looking straight at the teacher  who'd been staring at her like she'd done something terrible. 

Practice was hard. Maya and a dozen other teenagers were being yelled at every few seconds. 'Stand up straighter, put some effort into it, point your toes.'

Maya felt like she was under so much pressure already, she wasn't sure how she was doing. Back home she was so confident. She was the best at something she loved to do, and that was amazing to her. Here she was average. Not even that, below average. Maya knew she'd come from a small group and there was bound to be people here that were better than her, but she felt like she was even dancing the same dance. 

After 2 intense hours, Maya was exhausted . The session came to an end and Maya headed straight for her water bottle at the side of the room but collided with another dancer who'd not been looking where they'd been doing. 

"Hey!" Maya exclaimed and the girl looked her up and down, her lip curled. 

"Oh. So you're the one." The girl, who towered over Maya, replied. 

"The one what?" 

"They let one in every year." The girl explained, brushing over her perfect bun with her delicate hands. "A charity case to make the rest of us look better for the auditions. I think it's to build up our confidence." 

"How dare you." Maya snapped, ready to punch this girl so hard she went flying, but instead she took a deep breath. If ever there was a time to be on her best behaviour, it was now. 

"Nice leotard by the way. Really helps with the whole 'poor person' look." And with that the girl strode away. Maya furiously stomped and took a drink of water. What a bitch. The boy who'd fallen, Farkle saw the exchange and came over to join her. 

"That's Missy. Don't worry about anything she says. Apparently some girl almost trod on her toe in the changing room and she slapped her round the head with her bag." He said, making Maya feel a little better. "I really like your leotard by the way."

Maya couldn't deny that her leotard was homemade. It was ruby red with black stripes down the side, and she was wearing a matching black tutu. There was no color code for the auditions, but Maya did feel a little out of place in her red when only the boys were wearing anything dark. Girl's leotards tended to be pink, purple or occasionally blue. The red leotard was made for Maya when she found out she'd gotten the audition and she'd loved it. 

"Thanks. What can you tell me about the smug blondie over there?" She asked, noticing the same boy glancing their way for the second time. If she needed to avoid people this week, now was the time to know.  

"No idea. Complete mystery, which in this business is nearly impossible. Not even a name. Everybody been's asking about him and...you. " 

"Me? Why me?" Maya looked around the room, and realised now that she was catching a lot of people's eyes. 

"You and that boy are the only ones nobody knows. Most people go to the same dance schools, or actual schools. The pair of you, you're unknown. Which to these people, means you're a threat because they don't know your weaknesses." 

"So you're got all the information about everybody?" Farkle nodded. "Brunette in the corner?" Maya asked, moving his attention to the girl who'd given her the wrong directions earlier. 

"That's Riley Matthews ..." Farkles voice trailed off for a second, smiling her way even though she wasn't looking at them. "She's legend around here. Apparently she's known in her old group around here as being the fun one. The girl that doesn't need to try hard to be good. She's just naturally talented, and according to my many sources, she takes advantage of it." 

"Is she mean?" Maya thought back to this morning. 

"Not that I know of." Maya nodded. At least she would be able to assume the directions thing was a mistake and not somebody being purposely cruel to her. 

"And how about you Farkle?" Maya started packing her things back into her bag. It was time to go check out where she would be sleeping for the next week. 

"I'm nobody. Just the average guy." He shrugged. 

"You don't seem like nobody. You seem like the nice person who took the time to introduce himself to a girl who  apparently  won't be here after this week." They paused the conversation to get directions to their rooms and grab their luggage. 

"Thanks, but I'm nowhere near as good as any of the people here at dancing. I'm surprised they even let me audition . But I'm glad I'm here." He said, really glad he'd made a friend almost immediately. Being a ballet boy didn't exactly make it easy to make friends. 

"So where are you from Farkle?" Maya was curious now. If everybody knew everyone, she wanted to make sure she had at least one person who didn't hate her. 

"Just a few towns away, less an hour in the car. I used to visit here a lot when I was allowed, this has always been where I wanted to be." 

"Me too." Maya admitted. 

They reached a third year helper who took their names and looked for where they were staying. Out of the corner of her eye, Maya spotted a semi familiar face. The brunette guy from the changing room. He seemed to be looking for somebody and Maya saw Riley bounding down the corridor and squeeze him in a tight hug. They seemed very friendly. 

"Who's that?" Maya asked, her curiosity got the better of her. Farkle looked over to who she was referring to. 

"Oh that's Riley's uncle, Joshua. Seems okay." 

The third year pointed them in the opposite direction to the family reunion that was happening. "Take the  elevator. Fourth floor, both of you." The pair looked at each other  excitedly, heading to where she said to go after thanking her and taking their keys. 

"Hold the door!" Another boy said, rushing to the  elevator  as Farkle made sure the door didn't close. Maya  recognized  him from downstairs. He'd been really graceful, she'd tried to copy his Ronde de  Jambes a terre*. The way he'd moved him feet along the ground had been something to marvel at, effortless but perfect.

"Thank you." He said, putting his suitcase in  and squashing himself into whatever room was left which wasn’t a lot at this point. 

"No problem." Farkle nodded, pressing the button for the fourth floor. "What floor?" 

"Four, same as you two. Hey there, I'm Zay Babineaux." He shook Maya's hand and then Farkle's. 

"I'm Maya, and this is Farkle. I have to say, you're a really good dancer." Maya felt foolish saying it, but she was an honest person and it would bother her if she didn't say something. 

"Awh, well thank you. I was very stressed about today, that teacher is scary as!" He chuckled. 

"She seems stressed already." Farkle agreed. "So what, is it single rooms up here?" He asked as the doors opened on their floor. 

"Sort of. Two double rooms, one for girls and one for boys, and two single rooms, one for a lucky boy and one for a lucky girl. I asked downstairs." Farkle checked out the room numbers, and saw he was in the double. Zay did the same. He clapped Farkle on the back. 

"Nice!" He cheered and noticed Maya was looking pretty miserable. Double room. She hated sharing her personal space.

"Don't worry, I'm sure it'll be fine and when you come back for real, you'll be able to request a single room." Farkle tried to cheer  her up.

"If I come back." Maya sighed. 

"So you want to look around the grounds in a little while?" Farkle asked. "I've been here a  lot, I can show you around." 

"Let me get in on that?" Zay  added, and Maya nodded. 

"Sure thing, can I knock on your door when I'm done getting settled in?" Farkle nodded and joined Farkle in their room. Maya tried to take  a second to prepare herself for meeting her roommate but didn't really get a chance. Before she could the evaluator doors opened again. Blonde mystery boy. 

"Hey, look, it's the short stack of pancakes." he smirked. "But something's different...she's wearing all of her clothes." He even had the cheek to wink at her as he joined her next to her door, leaning against the wall. 

"Is that a Texas accent?" Maya asked, but she already knew the  answer. "Oh, we've got a farm boy have we?" 

"Maybe you do." He shrugged. 

"Wow. So Ranger Rick likes to peak on girls in the locker room, does he?" Maya wasn't about to take no shit from anybody here, and if she let this guy walk all over her now, it could continue for the whole week.

"You were in the boys changing room, or did you forget? " 

"Not yet ." She replied, try to pass it off as it was nothing. 

"And it's Ranger Lucas, not Rick. What's your name shortie?" 

"See you around Ranger Rick." She grinned before walking into her room and shutting the door. Hopefully that would be the last time he mentioned that whole changing room thing. That was not a first impression she wanted to stick. 

Maya looked the girl who was already getting all her stuff settled her in. 

"Missy?" Maya asked and Missy looked like she'd just been smacked. Maya was just  disappointed but didn't show it. What was the point?

"Oh great, this is just perfect." Missy replied. She threw the rest of the clothes into a drawer. "Make yourself at home or whatever, I'm going to go see if there are anymore rooms available." 

"Please, make my day." Maya responded. Missy kicked the room's trash basket towards her. 

"Here. This is for your stuff. I'm assuming this is where most of it belongs." Missy walked out and Maya threw herself down onto the spare bed, sighing loudly. 

This dream of hers was not turning out anything like expected. It was chaotic, stressful, she felt useless and untalented and she already had people who hated her. Great. It was exactly how she'd imagined it. 

She could do this, she kept telling herself. She needed to remember why she was here, and then that would make her feel better. 

This was only the start, she told herself. Nothing was going to be easy after this.  

* * *

 

*A circle of the leg on the ground.


	2. Late Nights

 

 

_ Every kid crowded round the board to see the names of the accepted teens. Maya pushed her way to the front scanning the names for her own but couldn't see it on the accepted list. She stopped breathing. Next to it was the list of those dancers who didn't get in with a single name on it; Maya Hart. Everybody in the class stared to laugh at Maya, circling around her until she felt sick.  _

* * *

 

Maya awoke panting, stressed beyond belief and clutching at her covers like her life depended on it. What an awful nightmare. Missy was snoozing peacefully in the bed next to her after unsuccessfully trying to move rooms. 

Needing a drink, Maya slipped on some socks and headed out to get a glass from the kitchen their floor was sharing. The place was dead silent, and Maya noticed that the door to the boys single room was left open and there was a light and muffled voice coming from the kitchen. She tip toes silently to the door of the kitchen and listened for a moment. 

"Look  I'll be out of here in no time."  That was Lucas... Maya edged closer to the door although she felt a little guilty. Oh well, if he felt he could invade her privacy she could do the same with him.  She couldn't hear who he was talking to. 

"I said I'd audition, but after that, the judge will reconsider. I've changed!" He said in hushed tones and Maya could hear him tapping his fingers on the table.  "I promise, I'm not that person anymore, and they'll see that." He sounded agitated. She peeked as best she could between the door frame and the door itself when there was a gap and saw Lucas slam his phone down on the table. She flinched and took a step back, causing a floorboard to creek by doing so. Maya stepped back a few paces to make it look like she was just walking to the kitchen. 

"Hello?" Lucas asked quietly and Maya stepped into the kitchen. 

"Hi. I'm just here to get a glass of water." She explained and he nodded. She looked around, not remembering where the glasses where kept. 

"Third cupboard to the left." Lucas said. 

"Thanks." She grabbed a glass and filled it up with water from the tap. "You alright?" 

"Sure. Just... Honestly I don't want to be here." 

"That's insane. This is a top school, it's amazing and you'd be very lucky to get a place here." Maya reasoned.

"That's if I liked dance. And I _don't_ like dancing." 

"I saw you today, you like dancing. The look I saw on your face is the same face you see on every person at a competition. That look means they want to win." Maya was sure of it. She made that face herself when she really wanted something. 

"You were watching me dance?" Lucas responded with a arrogant grin. Maya rolled her eyes. 

"I watched everybody today, it's what you're supposed to do. Makes it easier to know what level people are at." The grin wasn't going away. 

"You watched little old me dance." He mocked. 

"Shut up." Maya replied, but her heart wasn't in it.  

"Shouldn't you be going back to bed?" Lucas changed the subject. Maya looked at the time. It was only 1am. 

"I don't think I can. There's been so much to take in today."  she said truthfully. "So what's the deal with you coming here? You came all the way from Texas after all." 

"I'll tell you if you tell me your name." He stretched his legs out onto another chair .

"Maya. Maya Hart." She told him. "So here from Texas?"  

"Yes I am. My mum asked me to audition a long time ago and I wanted to keep my promise to her." 

"That's sweet. " 

"Not particularly." His voice was icy cold, his expression stone. He stood up and Maya thought for just a moment he looked guilty.  "I should go to bed. See you around pancakes." 

"Night Huckleberry." 

"Huckleberry?" 

"I can hardly just stick to one nickname. Texan farm boy gives way to so many insults." He chuckled as he left the room. Maya waited until she heard his door shut before finishing her water and heading back to her own room. Missy was still fast asleep luckily, Maya couldn't be bothered to talk to her right now. 

Maya tossed and turned pretty much all night. She was afraid her nightmares would be exactly what would happen to her at the academy: She'd embarrass herself, she'd fail and have to go home. If she was about to live the nightmare, she didn't exactly want a preview. 

She needed to stay here. Home just wasn't an option anymore, and this was the perfect escape route. 

* * *

 

That day began with 2 hours of ballet, followed by an hour each of tap, modern, jazz and hip hop. The academy, although known mostly for ballet, prided itself on teaching various different dance styles. It was part of the appeal to the school and why it was so popular. 

Ballet was fine. Maya managed to keep up and felt like she was doing just as well as at least half of the other students. She couldn't help bit flare up with jealousy when she saw a few people though. Missy got every single move perfect, like she'd done them so often they were as natural as blinking. Zay was so full of life when he danced, every step he took burst with life. And that Riley girl was just effortlessly graceful.  Maya couldn't help but be jealous when she saw her do a battlement glissé*  like it was nothing, a move Maya had never managed to conquer. 

Tap and Modern were things Maya had done a few times before, but it seemed that most people were in the same position. Missy, of course, seemed to nail everything. 

Maya hoped that hip hop was where she would feel most comfortable except for ballet. She'd done it so many times before. An older friend of her had been keen on her starting, saying it suited her better than ballet ever would. He was wrong, but she'd liked it all the same. The thing was, in ballet she felt in total control of herself, hip hop required a level of relaxation she just wasn't comfortable with. 

The teacher was always watching them as the audition was for the entire week. On Friday, they would have a test. One choreographed dance that everybody would  perform, and one of your own pieces to a song of your choice. If you didn't  choreograph yourself, you could request a second or third year student for help or partner up with somebody in the class. Maya was planning on doing it herself, she knew what she was capable of and it seemed easier this way. She'd choreographed before and even if it wasn't the best of her abilities she was hoping her dancing would be what they focused on. 

The hip hop started with a warm up, followed by learning a quick routine and a bit of freestyle. Nothing Maya didn't think she could handle. 

"Maya, you're doing really well at this!"  Zay complimented, and Maya thanked him. Farkle, who had been particularly talented at the tap dancing, was struggling with this type of dance. 

"My parents never let me do this sort of dancing. They said it wasn't real dancing." Farkle explained, trying to rotate this hips in time with the music. It was more jolty than smooth, so Maya thought she'd help. She placed her hands on each of his hips and pushed them round in a circle. Farkle was just starting to get the hang of it when the teacher stormed over. 

"Why aren't you focusing on your own dance?" She demanded. 

"I was just helping Farkle with him for a minute." Her teachers eyebrows shot up like Maya had just admitted to some horrific crime. 

"I suggest you take more time to ensure you can do the dance. I hate to remind you all of this, but these people are who you are competing with for a place here." She walked away, heels clicking on the dance floor. Farkle had turned bright red. Maya could tell he wasn't used to being yelled at by a teacher. 

"You think being a dance teacher she'd loosen up a bit." Maya muttered to him and went back to practising her own dance. 

After 20 minutes it was time for the freestyle dancing. They all formed a circle and much to Maya's dismay she ended up next to Missy who did not look happy. A few people went, the music was pretty generic so it didn't take a lot to match the beat. 

Missy went forward and did the first step they'd been taught, clearly not trying to be original. It was too simple to look decent, but she did it perfectly. Farkle went next, doing the move Maya had helped him with and even got a cheer for it. Maya watched the teacher frown. Maya obviously wasn't going to be her favorite student. 

Maya's turn was coming up, so she prepared herself to walk into the  centre. She took one step forward before Missy stuck her foot out and Maya went flying. She crashed to the floor in front of everybody. Glancing up, Maya decided she couldn't make it any worse. She pushed herself up with one hand, remembering a move she'd only done successfull before. Using the momentum from the push, Maya got herself high enough to do nearly a full split in the air. She heard the class clap so she threw herself up and quickly span a couple times before retaking her  place in the circle. Missy looked pissed as hell. Farkle on her other side clapped her on the back to congratulate her. She looked back up at the class and caught Lucas' eye. He held her gaze for a moment or so before looking away at the next person who was in the middle. 

After class was over, Maya felt somebody tap her on the back. She turned, expecting to see Farkle but instead she was faced with Riley. 

"Hey, nice work out there. I'm Riley." She smiled and Maya quickly got over her surprise. 

"Hello." Maya nodded at her, but after yesterday was cautious.

 "So I'm really sorry about yesterday. I heard from some people that I sent you into the boys changing room, and I really didn't mean to. I feel terrible." She sounded really genuine, but Maya was more concerned about the fact somebody had told her. 

 

"That's okay.  Who told you I went into the wrong changing room?"  Riley bit her lip, looking guilty. 

"Some second  years I was talking to about the exam. They asked if I knew who the girl they'd heard about was. I said I didn't know who it was.." 

"Oh. Okay, thank you. Can you excuse me a moment?" Maya stormed over to meet Lucas who was sat by himself in the  opposite  side of the room having a drink. 

"Hey there short stack." He smirked, and Maya felt like kicking him. 

"You have no damn right to be telling people about the changing room!" She hissed at him. He stood up, collecting his things. 

"Oh you heard about the rumor? I wouldn't worry, nobody knows it was you. They just think it's a short blonde girl. That could be anybody here." He didn't even sound sorry. Maya was fuming but he walked off before she could say anything else. 

"You alright?" Riley asked her when she went to collect her own things.

"Yeah, just a little annoyed."  Hair had fallen in front of Maya's eyes and she angrily blew air at the strands to get them out of her face. 

"I'm about to go to a party with the older students, you want to come along? Might help you relax a bit?" 

"You're a party person?" That was certainly a surprise to Maya.  

"Not really, my uncle Josh invited me. I thought it was rude to say no." Uncle Josh? The brunette guy with a face made by the Gods? Yes please. 

"Yeah sure then. Bit young to be your uncle, isn't he?" Maya tried to sound as casual as possible about the whole thing. That was easier said than done. 

"Yeah, but it’s nice that he's close to my age. Makes him fun. " 

"Okay, so when is it?" Maya asked, wondering if she had chance to go and get changed. 

"It starts at 10! Can you believe it?" Maya laughed. Riley seemed great. She glanced over Riley's shoulder and saw that Farkle was staring at the two of them. 

"Sounds good. Could I bring a friend ?" Riley nodded. "Great, do you know my friend over there ?" She gestured for Farkle to come and join them, and he cautiously walked to them. 

"I don't think so." Farkle was staring at Riley like she was responsible for  hanging the moon, it was sweet. "Hi, I'm Riley." She shook his hand but Farkle didn't say a word until Maya elbowed him the ribs. He winced but snapped out of his trance. 

"Hello, I'm Farkle. I think you're an extraordinary dancer." 

"Awh, thank you.  I'll see you out front at nine thirty?" Maya nodded and put her arm around Farkle in hopes of calming him down a little. 

As soon as Riley was out of ear-shot  Maya shook him a little. 

"You need to keep it together!"  

"I'm trying. I promise I'll be better at the party later."

* * *

 

He wasn't any better. Farkle had been relatively silent for the half hour he'd been there.  Riley on the other hand was the true life of the party. She was telling stories, making everybody laugh and be friendly with everyone. Maya watched her in amazement. A first year, and she seemed to know everybody. People hung on her every word, they laughed at all her jokes and she controlled the room without even trying. It stunned Maya how some people could be. 

"Game time!" Riley announced, and everybody cheered in response. Maya reluctantly joined her, figuring a fun game at a ballet school with no  alcohol  couldn't go badly. 

"Let's play doubles!" Riley grabbed two random people and say them down opposite each other. She got out her phone and put a timer on for 90 seconds. "Rules are simple. You ask a the other persons questions, you have to tell the truth. Make it as embarrassing as possible! If you can't answer, the other person gets to choose a dare for you to do!  And go!" 

The pair tried it, and it turned out to be really funny. One admitted to once putting their underwear in  somebody's bag as a practical joke. A few more people went forward before Maya saw a familiar face. Josh was being pulled over by Riley who was giggling like crazy. She sat him down and faced him. 

"Here! You've known me my whole life Josh, you know you can make me embarrassed!" Everybody clapped and Farkle timed them. Maya watched Josh patiently for him to  answer his questions.  He  looked really nice in his casual party clothes. 

Riley was asked her worst memory of her parents. Apparently she was taught by her father for middle school, so every memory of history class was tragic. 

Josh was asked what was the worse way he'd ever been rejected by a girl. He said over the  announcement speaker at school. Ouch. 

Riley used to be a cheerleader. 

Josh once got a gummy bear stuck up his nose for a day. 

After their round, Riley looked around and her eyes fixed on Maya. 

"No!" Maya yelled but Riley was determined. She practically climbed onto Maya to get her to sit down. 

"'l'll play." A voice said. Maya gulped. She  recognized that accent. As Lucas walked forward she cursed herself. She should have checked if he was coming really. 

"Great!" Riley smiled and let him sit opposite. He looked at Maya with his cocky smile. Oh no. What could he  possibly  ask her? Losing wasn't an option, he'd never let it go. "Go!" 

"Favorite song?" he asked in a rush. Okay that was easy. 

" Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake piece. What's your  favorite color?" 

"Blue.  Why do you like dance so much?" Lucas asked quickly. Okay not too bad. 

"I like to feel like I'm in control of myself. Is your mom the only real reason you're here?" 

"Not exactly." She wanted to force him to elaborate but she thought that would be against the rules. "Are you going to miss your home when you get in?" 

"No." If he didn't have to explain then neither did she. "Why did you even start to dance?" 

"It was a kind of therapy for me. Do you think I'm attractive?" Maya's eyes widened in horror. He wasn't messing around. She paused, considering lying. 

"Yes." He practically lit up. "Have you ever been arrested?" Since she'd heard him say 'judge' she'd been trying to piece things together. 

"Yes. What family do you have?" She needed to find out about this whole jail thing. She had to. But she couldn’t answer this question truthfully.

"I have parents." She wasn't exactly lying, but it wasn't telling the truth. "Why were you arrested?" 

"I stopped my therapy and I did something  bad ." He leant forward  in his seat, knowing their time was almost up so decided to mix it up a bit. "Have you ever kissed anybody?"

"No." Maya winced. She hadn't thought about what she was saying. "Did you tell people about our first meeting?" She wanted to know if he was actually going to openly admit it. 

"No. Do you want me to change that kiss answer?" He winked at her but it took her a second to process what he was saying. She froze, but luckily was saved by the bell. The timer went off so she didn't have to  answer. She got up immediately, walking away and joining Farkle again who was looking very confused. 

"You never told me something was going on with you two." He commented and Maya laughed. 

"There's not." Before Farkle to query further, Riley rushed over to Maya and linked her arm through hers. 

"It's getting late, you guys want to go get some tea back in our flat? Might be nice to sit down and talk. I was really looking forward to getting to know you both." They both agreed that sounded nice, so they said their goodbyes. 

"You leaving?" Josh said to Maya as she put her coat on. She was so surprised that he was talking to her that she momentarily forgot to answer . 

"Yes. This isn't really my scene." Josh shrugged. 

"Ah, well. I'll see you around." And he rejoined his friends over in the corner. 

* * *

 

Maya put the kettle on when they got back to their own place, glad they hadn't missed curfew. Her head was still reeling from the night. She thought school was going to be so much simpler than home  but everything was getting just as complimented.

"Make me one as well please?"  Zay said, walking into the room and casually sitting with everybody. He looked at Riley and smiled. "Well hello there cutie." 

"Hi." She said politely but didn't really take his compliment seriously. Maya didn't think he was being serious. Maya dished out tea leaving sugar and cream out for them to add as they pleased. They talked for a couple hours about dancing, what had brought them here and what they wanted out of the experience.

Riley was so enthusiastic. Her parents supported her dancing so much, and she was so thankful so them. She even had a little brother named Auggie who had started dancing because he wanted to be like his big sister. 

Zay had always been dancing, and had been bullied for it a lot of his life. He joked around about it, but Maya could see it really bothered him. He was really committed to what he is doing, and he wants to teach ballet for free to children in low income families. Maya thought that was an amazing idea. 

Farkle had started tap dancing to get extra credit at school, and now was maintaining top grades while dancing almost every day. He wanted to be a professional dancer on stage, sharing his talent with everybody and doing what he loved for a living. 

Eventually Zay and Farkle went to bed, shortly after they heard Lucas come back. Riley and Maya stayed up chatting for a little longer.  Riley was fascinating , she had some fantastic stories. Maya felt she could listen to her talk for a long time. 

"I should go to sleep." Maya said when Riley started to get curious about her own life. 

"I understand. We've got to have our energy for tomorrow." Riley surprised her by pulling her in for a big hug. "I'm so glad I've made a friend." 

"Me too." Maya said truthfully. She was glad everybody, except Missy, and maybe Lucas, seemed to be really lovely. 

"I want you to know I have your back this week Maya. I want you to get in just as much as I want to get in. I'll try and help you in anyway I can, just ask me." Maya was genuinely touched. 

"The same to you." 

"Thanks, you were great with helping Farkle today." Riley grinned a little. "Farkle's pretty cute isn't he?" 

Maya couldn’t help but giggle at the fact the two of them were so adorably smitten with each other. "He's a sweetie. Night night Riley." 

That night Maya didn't have a single bad dream. And even though she was pretty  exhausted that morning, it was worth it. 

* * *

 

*battlement glissé  - To glide off the floor 7-11 inches. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading! I hope you're enjoying it so far!


	3. Angry Words

"Today determines your willingness and ability to dance in pairs and groups. Tomorrow you will be continuing this practice, as well as preparing for your two exams."  

Something Maya dreaded. She'd barely danced with other people at her old class, she preferred the freedom of being by herself and not relying on somebody else.  

Farkle snuck over slowly to stand by Riley, clearly trying to be her partner. Zay and Maya caught each others eye and took a few micro steps until they were next to each other. The teacher wondered around and paired Riley and Farkle, who both looked very pleased. Maya might have thought the skill level gap would be a problem for Riley but she didn't seem to mind at all.  

As the teacher reached Lucas he muttered a few words to her, and Maya expected him to paired with the quiet girl next to him. Instead, the teacher said nothing and continued to look at Maya and Zay who were now stood next to each other. She shook her head abruptly.  

"Oh no. Maya you can't expect Zay to lift you, he's got weak arms despite his strong legs." Maya was used to hearing that she needed to slim down for ballet, so it didn't bother her. She wasn't about to go changing her body when she was perfectly used to dancing with it now and she danced just as well with her shorter physic than any girl in the class. Besides, there wasn't even that much difference between her and every other girl in the class.   

"Lucas, swap partners with Zay please. You've got strong arms." Maya groaned internally, cursing under the breath and waiting for the snide comment that would obviously follow him joining her, most likely about her weight.  

"Zay could have lifted you up no problem." He pointed out. "But I'm not about to start complaining that she took my suggestion."  Maya looked over at Zay who was looked very pleased with his new partner.  She was beautiful, with long legs and very curly hair pulled back in a bun. Maya remembered her name was Vanessa or something similar to that. She seemed nice.   

"Suggestion?" Maya asked, warming up and preparing herself for a long morning. It felt good to stretch out her legs and arms. It always relaxed her, knowing she was about to dance.  

"I merely stated that we would do very well as a partnership and that I'd be on my best behaviour if she put us together." Maya had to admit it this made her smile a little. He seemed to be going to a lot of effort for her. What he wanted from her was the real question. If it was to embarrass her, he'd already achieved that by telling people about the changing room. Although honestly she was being to doubt it was him after all. 

"So you bribed her?"  

"Suggested, bribed, tomato, tamato." He brushed it off and got back to getting ready. 

The session was pretty intense as far as training went. They worked on coordination of their footwork and then working with the other partner in an efficient way. Maya couldn't deny that literally being pressed up against Lucas every few minutes made it very difficult to stay mad at him for humiliating her at the party last night.  

His skin was warm as his arms glided down over her side, and he was surprisingly gentle with the spins. Maya noticed a little shake in his hand when he had to dip her. Maybe his arms weren't as strong as they looked.  

She tried to keep her face as serious as possible to be professional but every once in a while Lucas would smile a little and Maya had to control herself so she didn't laugh. It just kept hitting her that this was a ridiculous thing to be doing with a teenage boy she'd hardly met before.  

He was a damn good dancer too. Without even trying he was one of the best in the class. It frustrated Maya because despite how badly she wanted this, it didn't help her with her dancing. 

They even work well as a couple. The height difference between them meant they didn’t clash together, and they didn't need a lot of communication because they were both good at knowing what the other was about to do.  

The problem for Lucas and Maya came when it was lifts. Maya was hesitant and it showed. Even with the simple ones she wasn't comfortable with at first. She got there, but her lack of confidence showed.  

"Just trust me." Lucas whispered into her ear, patient as ever.  

"I can't." Maya replied honestly. She tries, she really did but it just wasn't happening. She watched as Farkle pushed and held Riley up into the air with ease. Lucas pushed away to get a drink of water, frustrated. He didn't know what he could do. Eventually he just carried on doing the most simple lifts he could with Maya, ones she was in charge of and could control herself.  

"Lucas I'm sorry." Maya said at the end of the session as her while she and her friends headed out to go get some lunch together.  

"Don't be. I can't expect you to trust me." He shrugged and picked up all his stuff.  

"Hey Lucas, we're heading out to the park later, fancy joining?" Zay asked. Maya shot him a  look, but she couldn't really be surprised that Zay was the friendly type.  

Lucas looked at Maya, eyebrows slightly raised, silently asking her permission.  

"You should come." Maya agreed and Lucas grinned, actually glad to have somebody to hang out with.  

"Sure thing. Thanks." He said to the group.  

"Wanna join us for lunch?" Maya surprised herself a little by asking him, but she put it down to just feeling bad for the guy. That, and she didn't exactly hate his company. She did just embarrass him by making him do the easier lifts ever. They both knew if he'd been with another partner he would have been fine.  

"Thanks." He said and joined the group as they walked out of the studio.  

"Josh!" Riley announced, running and whisking her uncle away from the group of people he was with. Maya looked up at the mention of his name.  

"Hey there." He smiled at the group, eyes pausing on Maya, recognising her from the party she thought.  

"Come join us for lunch." Riley said, already pulling him in the direction of the lunch hall.  

"Alright." He shrugged and started to walk with them.  

Lunch would have been very quiet if it had not been for Riley and Farkle talking to each other the whole time. They were getting on like a house on fire, which was great for them, but everybody else was left eating their food in near silence. Josh poked at his lousy salad but kept looking over enviously at Lucas' fries and burger.  

"You get through the auditions and its bye bye to food like that." Josh chuckled at him, but Lucas just stared at him with an unamused expression on his face, eyebrows raised and lips pulled tight.  

"I'm just auditioning, that doesn't mean I have any intention of carrying on in this school." Lucas informed him and that was the end of that conversation. Maya ate her sandwich which was pretty nice but she couldn't resist stealing a couple of fries off of Lucas. He didn't offer them, but didn't stop her either, mostly because she was stealing them when he wasn't looking her way. When she blatantly took one and wiggled it in front of his face, he just laughed a little.  

Maya and Zay made idle conversation for a while, but it felt uncomfortable when Lucas and Josh were silent, occasionally giving each other a weird look.

"And what you're seeing here is a classic display of males try to demonstrate dominance within the pack." Zay whispered in Mayas ear, imitating a documentary style voice. She laughed out loud, drawing attention to the two of them.  

"What's so funny?" Josh asked, smiling at the pair.  

"We were just talking about...animals." Maya lied.  

"Did you know that emperor penguins bow to each other before they have sex?" Zay blurted out, causing Maya and him for the second time to collapse in giggles. Zay was such a laugh. 

After lunch, they said goodbye to Josh who hadn't even acknowledged Maya throughout lunch. She decided it was just the fact that they were in group and he was shy. They went back to the next session at the school.  

Group dancing was actually quite fun. Riley and Maya were placed in a group together and tried very hard with the routine. Simple stuff really, but Maya still couldn't keep up occasionally, even though she was really trying. Riley tried to help her, but she wasn't fantastic at explaining the moves or the mistakes Maya was making. To Riley it came naturally, she didn't have to think about it so she wasn't sure how to describe what she doing.  

When class was over the teacher called Maya over.  

"Miss Hart, when did you start dancing?" She asked quietly, her face as stern as ever.  

"It's been 11 years now. I started when I was 5." Maya replied, a little confused by the question.  

"I have to be honest, you dance like somebody with 5 maybe 6 years experience. You're falling behind. You're clumsy. You didn't trust your partner earlier today. And the fact you've chosen to associate yourself with Miss Matthews, who messes around most of the time, and Mr Minkus who is almost as inexperienced at dancing as you, makes me think you're not serious about being here. You should be spending your energy on dancing, not making friends or playing about."  

"I don't think who I'm friends with has any impact on my dancing." Maya snapped but cursed herself for doing so. Best behavior Maya, she told herself.  

"And I find your attitude distasteful. You'd better focus for your audition on Friday or you will not be making our shortlist. Hundreds of girls would beg to be in your place right now. I suggest you consider that before you talk to me in such a rude tone again."  

"Yes miss."  Maya walked away angrily, joining her friends. Lucas was the first to notice she was pissed. He placed a hand on her shoulder. 

"You alright pancakes?" Although he used the rude nickname, he did seem to be being thoughtful. Maya nodded but didn't say anything. She wasn't the best liar. "Come on. You'll like the park." He considered giving her a hug, but settled on just patting her on the back as they rejoined the rest of the group after falling a few paces behind.  

He was right. The park was beautiful. The luscious green trees were stunning, and they were in such vast numbers Maya knew she would be lost in them for days in she walked in. There were huge green hilly areas though, with parks for children and a beautifully still lake.  

"This is awesome!" Zay exclaimed, putting his bag down in a nice shaded patch under a tree and lying down. Riley and Farkle sat next to each other, still talking away like they were the only two people in the universe.  

Lucas sat down and cautiously Maya sat down next to him. He watched her as she sat, but didn't mention anything or make a comment. 

Zay started to play music from his phone, a song that Maya recognised quite well from the radio. Zay got up and started swaying from side to side and singing the intro. His voice was pretty decent even though he wasn't trying.  

"Maya! Come dance with me!" He said, pointing at her and starting to properly tap his feet and move around.  

"We're in public!" Maya protested. Riley quickly ran over and joined Zay, dancing like she didn't give a damn about anybody watching. If Maya had her talent, she doubted she'd care either. Riley's arms swung around a little, she moved back and forth with Zay, but she didn't stay up for long. She sat back down and danced a little silly sitting down dance with Farkle.  

"Maya!" Zay demanded and Maya gave in, standing up and swaying a little, not trying at all.  

"Come on Friar, at least look like you're trying!" Lucas teased her and she decides to try at least a little.  

"I'd shut up if I were you Huckleberry, or I'll force you up here to join me." The little group cheered at her dig, encouraging her on. She closed her eyes, trying to forget that she was in public. She forgot anybody was there at all, and imagined that she was back at home in her studio.  

Listening to the sound of the guitar, she stepped forward and started moving her feet in time. She lost herself in the dance, following where her instincts took her and tried to ignore the uneven floor. A few kicks, a couple of bitty turns and that was it, she was gone. The escapist sensation that came with dancing overwhelmed her and she was moving with the music without thought. She even managed a big leap before she decided it was time to stop.  

Maya came back into the real world and realised that Zay wasn't even dancing anymore. She blushed, feeling foolish. Everyone looked a little stunned. The song was coming to an end now. Had she really been dancing that long? 

"Yeah. Okay. Sorry." She muttered quietly and took her seat. Riley was the first to talk.  

"Maya, that was amazing!" She gushed.  

"That was really something." Farkle agreed, looking damn impressed.   

"You showed me up Hart!" Zay joked, sitting down next to Farkle.  

"Don't be silly you guys. It's nothing like what you all do at school." Maya argued, wrapping her arms around her legs, trying to make herself as small as possible.  

"You're right. It was better." Farkle told her matter-of-factly. 

"No. It's just what I used to do at home. I didn't have a lot of organised training so I made up my own little dances." She turned to Lucas. "Can you stop looking at me like that?" She snapped.  

"I'm sorry Maya, they're right, that was...good." Maya had assumed that smirk on his face was because of her stupid dance and that now he had something else to tease her about. She didn't realise he was actually impressed.  

"Thank you...Lucas." She used his name cautiously, like she was afraid of saying it. Luckily for her, it just ended the subject.  

They settled back into their small conversations, and Mayas curiosity about Lucas was getting the better of her again.  

"So you said your mom is the reason you're here. Is she supportive of all this?" Maya asked.  

"She was." He said and stared down at the ground. "She died."   

"Lucas..." Maya began but he interrupted. 

"Don't."  

"Don't?" She wanted to reach her hand out, comfort him in some way but nothing felt natural with this sort of thing. 

"Please don't do the whole 'I'm so sorry, that's a tragedy thing.' It's never genuine and it's not helpful. It was a while ago." His voice barely changed, Maya would hardly recognize that he was feeling sadness if it wasn't for the change in is facial expression. All confidence left him. he looked vulnerable for the first time since she'd met him.  

"Who... do you live with then?" Maya asked, wording her question carefully.  

"My pappy Joe. He took me in a couple years ago, but now...after what I did, he doesn't want to see me again."  

"What did you do?" Maya hated herself for asking but she really didn't want to understand him.  

"I told you I got arrested." Lucas started but was interrupted by a teenage boy, maybe 18 years old.  

"Alright love?" He said to Maya, very obviously checking her out obviously as he stepped closer to her. He looked like a dog eyeing up some meet.  "You want to come hang out with me and my friends?"  

"No thank you. I'm kinda busy." Maya said as politely as she could.

"Oh come on, it'll be fun. Or at least you can give me your number so we can hang out later." The boy continued, not put off by her rejection. "Unless you're gay or something? Don’t worry though, that’s not an issue, I like a challenge." 

 "I said no, please leave me and my friends alone." Maya asked and the boy took another step towards her. She was very clearly uncomfortable. Lucas stood up, his fists already balled up.  

"I just think you're really hot, I'm paying you a compliment. Can't I just get your number?" He said rudely, not even paying attention to Lucas.  

"She said no." Lucas said, a sudden anger in his voice. It was chilling. "Leave her alone."  

"I'm just having a little fun, what's it to you?" The boy squared himself, clearly over estimating his strength compared to Lucas'.  

"You're upsetting my friend. I said back off." With the last word Lucas jabbed his finger into the chest of the stranger who was still looking pretty confident.  

"Whatever. She's probably some slut anyway." As if somebody had flicked some kind of switch, Lucas was in action, moving faster than Maya had ever seen him move. Lucas grabbed the fabric around the boys shoulders and slammed him hard against the tree that was giving them the shade. The boy groaned loudly as Maya, standing up, was joined by Zay, Riley and Farkle. Lucas' hands kept the boy pressed against the tree and his foot was squashed under Lucas' foot. He squirmed but Lucas barely moved an inch.  

"I suggest you keep your mouth shut before I shut it for you." Lucas hissed, completely different to how Maya had seen him before. His green eyes were sharp and focused and instead of that twinkle Maya saw when he was joking around. He seemed so cold. His angled chin no longer made him look rugged, it made him look threatening. Maya was still trying to process his erratic change in behavior when the boy whimpered.  

"Back in Texas we respect people, and don't use disgusting words like 'slut' to describe them." Lucas slammed the boy back into the tree again, making him groan. He didn't look so confident now.  

"Lucas..." Maya said but he didn't seem to be able to hear her. Riley put her hand on Maya's arm, trying to comfort both Maya and herself. She wasn't used to violence and it really scared her.   

"Now one of two things are going to happen when I let you go. You're either going to apologize to my friend over there, and run away scared, or you can throw a punch. But I can assure you I'll be the one to walk away with from that fight. Got it?" He released the hands of the boy and stepped away. The stranger turned to Maya.  

"I'm sorry." He said sheepishly and scarpered off. Lucas put his head in his hands for a few seconds, breathing deeply. Maya wasn't sure quite what to do. Everybody was stunned into silence.  

Lucas turned back to them finally, and Maya could see the glimmer of tears in his eyes. He had his hands out in front of him like he was afraid of them, like he hadn't been in control of them before. His mouth opened and closed slightly, but he was unable to form any words.  

"Lucas..." Maya stepped forward, seeing his distress. He flinched away from her like he was afraid. Afraid for her. His eyes darted to the group who looked confused of what they just seen. Lucas began to walk off, but after a few paces he started to run, faster than Maya so she couldn't chase him even if she wanted to.  

"Well, I wasn't expecting that." Zay blurted out.  

"I'm sure there's some kind of an explanation." Riley added, and all Maya could do was nod. She told herself the conversation she'd overheard had nothing to do with what she'd just witnessed, that whatever Lucas had been arrested for wasn't violence. If she told herself this enough times, she could almost manage to convince herself it was true. But that wasn't going to stop her asking him. 

***********************

She hoped that she knew where he'd gone. She excused herself from her friends, and headed for one of the dance studios in the school. Knowing which one was available for training for the auditions, Maya went to that one first and heard the music blaring. The door was closed, but she watched through the window for a minute or so. She lost track of time watching him. 

Freedom suited him. His movement flowed quickly and confidentiality, there was no uncertainty or pauses between his moves. Energy poured out of his body, his passion in the smallest movement of his fingers to the jumps into the air so present.  

She watched him realize she was there when he span and stopped abruptly. She walked into the room slowly. He stayed where he was standing but turned the music off with the remote that was near his feet.  

"Hey." She said nervously.  

"Hi." The room returned to silence. Maya shuffled a little on her feet.  

"Thank you." She eventually told him. "Nobody's ever defended me before, and even if I could have handled it, it was still appreciated, so thank you."  

"Wow..." He replied. "That...wasn't what I was expecting to hear."  

"What were you expecting?" He shrugged, shaking his head a little.  

"I don't know. For you to tell me to leave you alone. To not talk to you again. You should be scared of me after what I just did."  

"No, I shouldn’t." Maya looked downwards at the floor, avoiding looking him in the eyes. "Everybody has their own shit Lucas. That's yours, and it doesn't make you frightening. I think it makes you human."  

"It makes me a monster." Lucas snapped. "I can't control myself when I get that angry. I've hurt people before Maya."  

"And you'll learn to not to. That's what the dancing is for right? You said it was therapy." She assured him. He smiled weakly.  

"I'm trying. But this school isn’t making me any better. I've been here three days. I haven't had an outburst like that in 5 months." he sighed. "The stress. The people. The pressure. It's all getting to me."  

"It's just auditions. Once you start this school for real, it'll be better." That's what Maya had been telling herself anyway.  

"If I stay. I told you, I promised my mother nothing more than the audition. And I'm hoping it'll be enough to convince the judge I've changed too."  

"The judge?"  

"5 months ago my friend got into a fight. Such an idiot. Never knew when to shut the hell up. I intervened, I got rough, and the guy told the police I assaulted him. It was my first offense, so I got a deal. My defense claimed that dance helped me keep calm. I sent off my application for this place and my tape in order to show the judge I was making steps towards improving myself. Maybe after this week he’ll see community service or juvie as a waste of time."  

"And if he doesn't see this week as improvement?"  

"I'll either be stuck here with you." He smiled weakly, letting her know he was kidding. "Or I'll be out collecting litter from the streets or..."  

"You'll get to stay. You have to." Maya stroked his bare arm lightly, comforting him.  

"Why?"  

"Because otherwise I won't have my partner." She laughed. "Why don't we practice some of our lifts for tomorrow's class while we're here?"  

"You sure?" He asked, and she nodded. She pulled off her shoes and took off her jumper, leaving her in her dance leggings and t-shirt.  

They practiced their routine for well over two hours, until eventually it was near flawless. Maya was no longer afraid of the lifts, she did them with relative ease and Lucas was gentle and patient as ever, making sure she was okay to do each one.  It was easier to trust somebody when you felt you knew them. 

When they both exhausted, Maya sat down at the side of the room, accidentally sitting on the remote for the music. 'Take me to church' started to blast through the speakers, and Maya turned it down but didn't turn it off.  

"I love this song." She commented as Lucas came to sit next to her. "Damn near impossible to dance to though. I could never get the changes right." She recalled, remembering when she'd tried it numerous times. 

"That was exhausting." Lucas leant his head back against the glass behind him. "And it's nearly 11. We should go before it's past curfew."  

They packed up their things and headed up to their rooms together in comfortable silence.  

"Thank you for today." Lucas said as they stood in the hallway.  

"No problem."  

"Maya, when you said everybody had their own shit...does that mean you too?" He commented. He wanted to ask her before, but it just didn't feel appropriate.  

"Another time." She said weakly. "Good night Lucas." She entered her own room, relieved to see that Missy was already asleep. She hummed the song by Hozier they'd just heard as she got dressed and ready for bed, brushing her teeth in the ensuite and dancing little steps with the song. She was more than halfway through the week and things were starting to look up for her.  

"Shut the fuck up with that stupid church nonsense!" Missy snapped, after being awoken by Maya's humming.  

"What happened to make you such a bitch Missy?" Maya retaliated. "Cheer up, it's not even that late and it's not my problem you go to sleep when most 9 year olds are still awake." She hummed a few more lines, but then settled into her warm bed nicely. Not even Missy could get rid of her good mood. 


	4. The Decision

This was it. The day that determined everything.   

Maya was ready. Her choreographed piece was good, she'd perform it with the rest of the class and was just as good as them, she hoped. But then her solo piece would be the part that really showed them what she was made of. This afternoon she would show them her perfectly planned piece and her future would begin. She had to be hopeful.   

She just finished showing Lucas her dance. Struggling for breath, she ended triumphantly and watched him as he applauded her.   

"How was it?" She asked and he grinned.   

"Perfect. You'll knock them dead." He told her, passing her water and patting her shoulder. Riley, Farkle and Zay had seen it earlier, and they'd all been very positive. She'd seen there's too, and they'd all been extraordinary. It was hard to believe she was lucky enough to be dancing with people with talent like theirs. 

"Your turn." She playfully pushed him into the middle of the room and pressing play on the next track. He'd chosen something a little more upbeat than her, but it worked. His moves were powerful, determined, full of passion. He looked so committed, it was like watching a brilliant painter complete a masterpiece, or a scientist making a fascinating new discovery. Just simply marvellous.   

When he was finished he was so overjoyed.   

"I knew you wanted to stay." Maya said confidentially.   

"What do you mean?"   

"Nobody would dance that well if they didn't intend to carry on." He walked to her and didn’t stop till he was a little too close for it to be a normal conversation.

"Maybe I'll admit that this place isn't quite as bad as I thought it would be."   

"Hmm. And the people?" She took a micro step closer to him, feeling the happiness radiating from him. 

"I suppose they're not all...awful." He placed his hands softly on her hips, like he would do if they were going to do a lift, but this was an entirely new level of intimate.   

"Glad to hear it." Maya said quietly as his hands slowly traced up her arms and rested on her shoulders. They didn't say another word, staring at each other for what seemed like a lifetime. Neither of them felt any kind of urgency.  

They jumped away from each other the moment Riley ran into the room, looking away uncomfortably. Riley eyed them both up, but decided it was none of her business.  

"Maya, I thought you might want to go through the group dance a couple more times, but we don’t have to if you're...busy." She phrased her words very carefully.  

"I'm not busy." Maya said quickly. "But I have to put my song onto a CD to give to the judges before I can keep rehearsing." 

"I'll do it for you." Lucas offered. "You can go rehearse."  

"Thanks Lucas, that’s really kind of you. See you in the practice room soon?" He nodded and Riley took hold of Maya's hand to drag her away.  

Lucas joined the 4 of them in just over half an hour, leaving hardly any time for him to practice himself. He left Maya's CD on the side, marked with her name.  

They kept repeating the sequence, keeping an eye out for everybody else, helping when they could. Maya couldn't believe how badly she wanted not just herself to get in now, but all her new wonderful friends. She didn't want to do this without them now.  

Finally, auditions were here. First the whole class was divided into groups and were to perform the dance shown to them. Riley and Maya were placed in the same group, and they performed first with 3 other people from the class. When the music started, Maya thought she might be sick but she focused her mind. She calculated every move she had to make, remembered every turn, jump or point of her toes.

Riley kept in time, and looked confident as she did it. The teacher who were judging them could see it. They could also see how perfectly effortless Riley was. She was a naturally gifted girl.   

The boys were in a different group, but all together. They were all fantastic. Maya couldn’t fault any of their moves. She was so proud of them. Particularly Farkle. He'd come so far in such a little time. 

Much to Maya's dismay, Missy was flawless yet again.  

The class was dismissed and told to go outside, while they waited to be called in one by one. Maya was shaking her was so afraid. Riley comforted her, hugging her and they sat to the side on a bench.  

Lucas was called in second. He gulped, and looked to Maya.  

"Wish me luck." He said and Maya stopped thinking. She got up, rushed to him and pulled his head towards hers, pressing her lips onto his for just a brief moment. It wasn't so much a big, significant kiss, but a promise. A promise of future kisses. Lucas looked stunned. Warmth flowed through Maya like molten lava was pouring through her veins instead of bloof. 

"You don't need luck. You're gonna rock in there." Maya said quietly and returned to her seat, every pair of eyes in the room on her. She didn't really care.  

"Well." Riley said to her friend as Lucas went into his audition, CD in his hand. "That was... unexpected."  

"You're telling me." Maya grinned. She waited patiently for Lucas to be done, she could hear his music playing through the door and she could imagine his movements with each note of music. About a minute passed when the song finished before he came out the door, accompanied by a third year assistant that was calling people in.  

"Maya Hart." They said and Maya jumped up.  

"Good luck." Riley said and nodded to her.  

"You'll do fantastic." Farkle added.  

"Break a leg." Zay smiled, patting her back.  

"Here." Lucas said, handing her the CD he'd made. "You got this."  

Maya followed the third year into the room. She was told to put her CD in the machine and they'd press play when she was ready. She took the unmarked CD out the case and placed it in the machine. Her pulse was so fast she could hear it gushing past her ears. Her mouth was suddenly very dry but she reassured herself that she could do this.  

"Hi there Maya. How you doing today?" One of the teachers asked.  

"Fine thank you." She nodded.  

"Well, take it away whenever you're ready." They replied, sitting back in their chair. Maya noticed the end judge was looking at her red tutu in quite a judgmental way, but she ignored it. She tensed herself up and then relaxed, getting into position on the floor. She nodded at the third year and the music started to play.  

The wrong music.  

This wasn't her piece at all, this was...take me to church.

Her own words echoed in her head, words spoken to Lucas when they'd been together in the studio.   

 _"I love this song."_ _She'd_ _said_ _"Damn near impossible to dance to though. I could never get the changes right."_  

He'd set her up.  

Only a few seconds had passed but Maya knew there was no way of explaining this that didn’t get her chances of being accepted into this school blown out the window.  

The lyrics carried on and Maya tried to think of something to do. Anything.  

 _'If the heavens ever did speak'_  

Maya slowly extended her arm upwards, keeping on one knee and stretching out the other leg dead straight. She purposely fell backwards onto the floor, her movement purposely slow to give herself more time. She pushed herself upwards like her chest was being tugged at by a string and she imagined herself at home. No pressure. No judges. Just herself trying to lose herself in a song. This wasn't something she hadn't done a million times before.

Any feelings Maya had had over the course of that day and throughout the past were channeled into the dance. No different from any other day when she'd excuse herself from the house and head into the garden to dance. Every hurtful comment thrown her way at school would turn into a swift move of the arm or a stretch of the leg. Her life became her dance and her mind would become blank. Maya focused in on what she was feeling. Hurt, betrayal and anger. That became her dance.  

She got on all fours, right on the tip of her toes and threw herself upwards, landing back down quickly, rolling onto her back and throwing her arm above her on the ground. She could see nothing beyond the tips of her fingers, she could feel nothing but the music. The outside world ceased to exist now, it was just her and this song.  

She stayed near the floor, wanting to build up suspense. She dipped up and down, extending her legs, twisting herself slowly and delicately. One moment she would be clutching to the floor, she next second she would be trying to touch the sky with one hand. Every moment linked to the next, they were never completely separate. 

Using the force of one leg, she pulled herself inwards and threw herself over, doing a half back flip on the floor to get herself to her feet. She took a few pointed steady steps towards the judges as she felt the music build up to the chorus.  

She suddenly changed the pace, retreating backwards several paces and chucking herself up into the air, twirling at an angle. Her spins were precise and as well thought out as they could be under the circumstances. Anger was coursing through her body, and it showed.  

Two more steps into the corner and another spin before racing to the other side of the room and leaping upwards. She almost lost her balance on the landing, but she stayed upright.  

She jumped again, bringing herself in the middle of the room to point her legs, doing circles on the floor and her arms span gracefully around her. She span again and then the other way so she didn't get dizzy as she felt the fabric of her shoes start to slowly, but surely, take the skin away from the parts of her foot that weren't protected. She hadn't prepared for such a vigorous routine.  

She kept at it, every jump was something she'd never tried in a class before. Maya was truly connected with the song. Her hands clutched at her pulled back hair, showing the pain represented it the song like she knew she had to. She threw herself back onto the floor, but didn’t stay there for too long.  

Maya had struggled so much with the tempo when she'd danced to this song before, but now she was changing her speed so often it wasn't a problem. One move would be fast and determined, the next slow and attention grabbing. She repeated some of her actions, knowing if she didn't it would look unprepared and unfocused. Her fingers felt ready to fall off, her legs ached but she focused on nothing else but the dance. She wanted this too much not to give it everything now.  

To ease the pain of her body for mere seconds she made her movements take her against the back wall, sinking down while she pointed her leg out, and then she threw herself forward. She did 4 jumping spins in a row. Before now she'd never even managed three.  

She took advantage of every inch of space she had, tracing her corners of the room, every part of it as she danced. Her lungs felt ready to explode. She wasn't even sure she was breathing. She carried on though, feeling good that with every word she got closer to the end. She finished by doing a full length of the room twirling, and then she fell to her knees, leaning backwards and slowing sinking down.  

The music stopped and the world returned. She was facing four very confused looking teachers. Maya knew her eyes were full of tears, and the sound of her panting was the only thing filling the room.  

"Thank you Maya. That was...something else." The judge at the end said and nodded to dismiss her. The student handed her back the CD and followed her out of the room, calling in another student. Riley was the first to get to Maya, rushing to her and gripping her arm.  

"Maya, that wasn't your song! What happened? Did you change it?" She blurted out and Maya caught a glimpse of Lucas entering the room. Maya breathed out, and snapped the CD she was holding with her bare hands. She did it again and threw the pieces onto the floor. Lucas watched her, no expression on his face. Blank. But he could see how furious she was.  

"Tell me it was a mistake." She gave him a chance. A single chance. He looked down, unable to look her in the eyes.  

" Can we talk about this outside?" He asked but Maya shook her head. That was all she needed to hear. She was no longer upset. No tears would come from her right now. White hot anger flooded her body.  

" _You bastard!"_ She cried out. _"How could you?!"_  Fuck being on her best behaviour. She was probably out already. 

 _"_ What? What's going on?" Farkle asked from behind Maya. "Why didn't you dance to your song Maya?" 

"What happened was that _sweet, thoughtful_...asshole" Maya spat out each word like they were poison in her mouth. "Offered to put the song on a CD for me. And it was the wrong. Fucking. Song. And he knew exactly what he was doing!" Everybody stared at Lucas who wasn't looking at anybody. Instead he looked at the floor as he turned and walked out of the room. Maya was quick to follow. She wanted the fucking explanation.  

"Why?" She yelled at him. They were now in the school corridor, so the sound of her angry voice echoed. He span round and took a few steps back.  

"I...You know my secret Maya. I told you everything. Nobody at the school could know my past." he said eventually.  

"You're going to get me kicked out!" She cried. "Because I know you have _anger issues_?"  

"I don’t have a choice." Lucas said out, his voice unusually thick. His fists were tensed up.  

"Nobody could be that heartless." Maya told him. It sounded a little like a plea. She didn’t want him to responsible. She wanted an explanation.  

"Maya..." he began to say something but changed his mind. "You don't know me. I can be that heartless."  

"And everything you told me...everything we did together? I trusted you.I...I kissed you." She stammered out.  

"I know. That was a mistake." He told her, looking her dead in the eye. She shuddered. How could she be so god damn foolish? 

"I hate you." She hurled at him. " _I hate you_." 

"Maya." He repeated, but again didn't continue the sentence.  

"You've no idea what you've done." She told him. "You've ruined my life to keep up a good reputation at a school you don't even want to go to! You ruined my dream. I hope that judge sends you to juvie. And I hope you fucking _rot_ in there." She slammed her palm against the locked, trying to get her anger out. 

The worst thing? She didn’t even mean that.  

She left him standing in the hallway, going back to her friends. She should probably appreciate what little time she had left with them.  

The second Riley hugged her Maya broke down. All of the tears she'd been saving up suddenly came to her. She didn’t care what she looked like, she just needed her friend to be there for her right now. Riley left her with Farkle and Zay while Riley did her own audition, and then decided it was time to take Maya to her room so they could talk. Maya and Riley wished them both luck in their auditions, and Riley even kissed Farkle's cheek for a little extra luck. Despite everything, Maya smiled, hoping that kiss was leading somewhere for the two of them. They deserved it. 

The second they were back in Riley's room, Riley held her friend close.  

"This isn't the end Maya. You can go to other schools, you can keep dancing." Riley told her but Maya shook her head.  

"You don’t understand. I can't go home." Maya tried to dry her tears away.  

"Why? Will your parents be upset or something?"  

"No." Maya decided it was time to tell somebody the truth. "I don't...I don't know my parents."  

"What?" Riley didn't understand. Maya had said at the party she had parents. "You said you had parents." 

"I do, everybody does, I just don't know mine. I live with a minder. In a kids home." Maya explained. "The people there don’t care about you. They're cruel and awful, every kid is desperate to get out. The place is awful, and it just...it breaks you. It takes any happiness you have and it destroys it. You've got no hope there. Everybody gets involved with drugs, or they go to jail. Or they just disappear. I want a life, and this school was my only chance. If I got into this school, I got a scholarship. They'd fund me. I'd be getting an actual education, I'd have a _future_." Maya let out a desperate sob.  

"Oh Maya..." Riley said, stroking her hair that had fallen out of its bun and was now in knots and tangles around her face.  

"I can't go back there." She curled back into Riley's arms and sat there for a while.  

"I'm so sorry Maya. I can’t even begin to know what that's like." She said truthfully.  

They eventually feel asleep side by side on Riley's bed, both exhausted from the long and stressful day.  

Their peaceful slumber was interrupted a few hours later by Farkle and Zay hammering at their door.  

"Wake up! Come on! They posted the results!" They were crying out and the pair of girls got up quickly and rushed to open the door. Zay took Maya's hand and pulled her with him, as Farkle did the same with Riley. They ran to the notice board that nearly the entire class was surrounded around. Maya braced herself and she willed herself to get closer and have a look at the list of people who'd been accepted. She could see a girl crying and being comforted a few steps away. She felt awful for the poor thing.  

She quickly went over the list. Among the names were Missy, Lucas, Farkle, Zay, Riley...and Maya. 

She made it.  

She was in the school.  

She started in a few weeks.

This was it.  

Riley screamed and hugged all her friends in close, jumping up and down with them. Maya jumped with her, still trying to get over it. Her eyes found Missy staring at her. For somebody who'd just gotten into the school, she didn't look overjoyed. 

And then he appeared. Lucas had turned the corner and was staring straight at Maya. She looked away, focusing on her real friends and ignoring the pain she felt just seeing his face. Nothing was going to ruin this moment. She was achieving her dream. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, but please remember, things aren't always as simple as they appear. 
> 
> The dance that Maya did was actually my own simplified version of this incredible dance.  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-tW0CkvdDI  
> This piece was actually a huge influence for me to do this fic, so please do watch it. It also really helps to visualise what Maya was doing when she danced :)


	5. The Arrival

All packed. Almost everything Maya owned, was packed up in a couple of suitcases really to go. The taxi was outside ready to take her to the airport.  

"I'm off now Sarah!" Maya called into the kitchen to the carer looking after them today.  

"Alright." She replied stiffly, all her attention still on the pair of children she was dealing with. Maya felt bad for the kids, nobody deserved to end up here that young. She knew what that was like. She heard a yell coming from the house as she walked out, Sarah was telling one of the kids off.  

That was the only goodbye Maya was going to be giving. She hardly spoke to the other children from the home, all the youngers ones kept to themselves as did Maya. It was some unwritten rule at the home, you just don't make friends. People leave so often, there's no point.  

Nobody had been at the home as long as Maya. Even the minders left after a couple of years. Some kids got lucky, if they were young and cute enough, they'd be adopted, but that was rare. Most of them came in when they were over 10 years old, after trouble at home or they'd become orphans. Some trouble was caused by the children that were given up, fires or angry outbursts that meant they had enough of a reason to be left behind. Some kids lost their parents from overdoses, accidents and god knows what else. And for the majority of kids, they would leave for either jail or the streets. Anywhere was better than here.  

Their home was known for many things. Neighbors complained it was too noisy, the older kids would come home drunk and loud most weekends, and wouldn't give a fuck who they pissed off. The police labelled every kid from there 'trouble' and were known to be unfair when dealing with them. Basically, if you were from the home, you were guilty of any crime the police could accuse you of. 

Maya would now know the home as one thing. Her past.  

The academy and every opportunity it would allow her to have, was her future.  

Yet, watching the building as the taxi drove her away, Maya had a horrible feeling in her stomach that she would be back. She was just too pessimistic, or maybe this all felt 

Still, that was nothing to dwell on now. She had to think about where she was hearing. Excitement bubbled within her. Where she would be in a day just seemed unbelievable.  

Riley would be there. They'd been texting and calling each other every day since their auditions had finished, and they were even planning on getting a double room together this term. There was some choice involved this time, luckily. Maya couldn't imagine staying in the same room as Missy.  

Maya had also been talking to Farkle and Zay, who had been becoming even closer friends since auditions. Despite their obvious differences in personality, the two of them really liked the other. Farkle thought Zay was hilarious, and Zay thought Farkle was weird, but in a good way.  

She was very glad her friends were getting along, with each other and with her.  

* * *

 

Riley had her stuff packed, and her little brother was bouncing up and down on her clean bed. She laughed as he tried to reach the ceiling, but he wasn't even a quarter of the way there. Diving quickly onto the bed she grabbed his legs and pulled him down, so he fell over. He hit the bed with a thud on the mattress and a big laugh. Riley hugged him tightly and he did the same.  

"I'm going to miss you so much Auggie." She said, tears already filling her eyes and making them sting.  

"So don't go." Auggie replied innocently.  

"I have to go. I want to go."  

"You're leaving to go live with your boyfriend Farkle aren't you?" He stuck out his bottom lip. Riley gasped and giggled.  

"Farkle isn't my boyfriend! He's my friend. And we're going to the same school, but it's a little far away and I need to go live there." She stroked her finger across his cheek to comfort him.  

"Can I come with you?" He asked and it almost broke Riley's heart to have to shake her head.  

"Sorry you can’t. But I'll be back really soon, and you can come and visit me all the time."  

"You'd better be back." Riley heard her mother say from the doorway of her bedroom. Topanga, her amazing mother and Riley's idol, was grinning at her. Cory, her brilliant father had his arm around his wife, looking proudly at his grown-up girl.  

"You can't leave Riley!" He jokingly cried out. "We're the only sane ones in this house, you can't leave me all by myself!" He kissed Topanga's cheek to make up for the comment.  

"I know, but you two are the ones always telling me to believe in myself, and that I can do anything. I blame you both entirely for all this." Riley told them and they came over to her. The family hugged as a group, saying goodbye to each other as best as they could. They were all so close, it was hard to let go.  

"Auggie is right about one thing Riley." Cory said quietly.  

"What's that dad?"  

"Farkle is _so_ your boyfriend." he teased her. "Which of course means I don't want him anywhere near you, you're 16, you're too young for boys."  

Topanga and him had been hearing Riley go on and on about this boy Farkle that she'd met at school. It was sweet really, but their daughter still was insistent that she didn't like Farkle like that. Her friend Maya seemed nice too, and Riley had been very happy when she'd come back from school. It was nice to see her so happy, although she was most of the time. This was a different type of happy though, a more calm sort of happy. Not like she was excited in at that moment, but like her general mood was always elevated.

"Right." Topanga told her. "It's time to get going sweetie."  

"I don't think I'm ready mom." Riley admitted. She was terrified, she didn't want to live away from home.  

"Of course you're ready my little warrior. You can do anything."  

* * *

 

Riley ran to Maya the second she spotted her in the academy. Maya was exhausted, the flight had been delayed and frustrating and all she wanted to do was just get to school to see her friends. They hugged when they got to each other while Riley jumped up and down a little. Seeing Maya just made this whole experience feel less daunting.  

"I just can't believe we're here at last!" Riley squealed, grabbing her stuff and pulling Maya to go to the accommodation stall. They'd gotten here early so they could get a double room.  

"Me neither." Maya said, her tone sad rather than joyful like Maya had been expecting.  

"What's up?" Riley asked. She was used to always being the optimistic, happy one wherever she went, so it didn't bother her when people were sad. She knew she could almost always make them feel better.  

"I just feel like I got lucky. I was struggling so much during the week, then a bit of fortune and I got a place. I kinda feel like I...cheated." Maya had been feeling this way all summer. People who got rejected must be heartbroken, and Maya didn't feel like she deserved to be here at all. Making a few helpful friends and ensuring she was well rehearsed on the 2 auditions didn't mean she was a good enough dancer to be here.  

"Maya Hart, you listen to me and you listen good. You didn't get lucky. You worked stupidly hard to nail your first audition and not another dancer in this school could have done what you did in your second. You hadn't even prepared for that, and you still did fantastic. You had somebody try to sabotage you, and you came out the other side with a spot in the academy. You're going to do amazing at this school."  

"Thanks Riley." Maya grinned, although she hated being reminded of the Lucas incident. "So are you." 

Riley stuck her tongue out playfully. "I know."  

They approached the accommodation stall and were given a double room. The third year promised it was one of the biggest too. Riley spotted Farkle and Zay walking in as Maya was filling in the details for the room and ran to grab them. She made them dump their stuff to rush over to stall, hand in hand with the both of them.  

"Do you have any more double rooms left on the floor?" Riley asked the helper.  

"No sorry. As the double is a big one, we have 3 singles on that floor, and..." They checked their chart. "Only two of them are available."  

"They'll take them!" Riley blurted out, then blushed. She realized she should be letting the boys make the choice, although she knew Farkle said him and Zay had discussed sharing. "If they want to that is." She quickly added.  

"Yes please. Can we take those ones?" Farkle said, very aware of the fact that Riley hadn't let go of his hand yet, even though she'd let go of Zays. The third year started on the forms while everybody smiled.  

"Who's the other person on floor 4 then?" Maya asked, hoping it wouldn't be Missy.  

"I am." Lucas' voice came from behind them all.  

Maya would have preferred Missy at this point. Hell, she would have taken Missy twins.

"Sorry. I didn't know you guys would be taking the other rooms." He looked to the floor. "I'll keep out of your way."  

Farkle looked at him and felt terrible. He hadn't told anybody, not even Riley, that he'd been talking to Lucas over the holiday. He honestly didn't believe that Lucas had switched the song. Which means he was taking the blame for something he didn’t do, and there had to be a good reason for it. He thought Lucas might tell him, but he still stayed with the story that he purposely put the wrong song on the CD, but he just wouldn't tell Farkle why.  

Farkle may be a dancer, but he was also a scientist, and nothing bothered him more than something unexplainable.  

As Lucas left the room without anybody saying anything, Farkle broke and let go of Riley's hand, determined to get some answers. "Be right back."  He chased after Lucas and caught up to him in the corridor.  

"Farkle?" Lucas asked.  

"I know you didn't mess up Maya's audition." He told him. "I don't know why you're lying but I'll find out. So you can either tell me now, or I'll go looking for answers myself."  

"You don't know what you're talking about." Lucas replied. "Look Farkle, I appreciate you talking to me over the summer, it was really nice of you, but you should go back to your friends. I'll keep to myself."  

"You like Maya. Why won’t you tell her the truth?"  

"Because nobody ever wants to hear the truth!" Lucas raised his voice. "The truth is bullshit, and I am better out of her life. She is better without me in her life. And so are you Farkle, so just go back to your friends." Lucas didn't bother waiting for a response, he grabbed his bags and headed for the elevator.  

Farkle may not have gotten an answer, but he got some information. Lucas wasn't telling the truth, he basically just admitted to not switching the songs. That was all Farkle needed to hear to start investigating this. He knew Lucas and Maya were better together, he saw them when they were partners and it was like a match made in heaven.  

He headed back into the hall with no explanation as to why he left. So when he was asked, he just made up some nonsense about how Lucas borrowed a book from him during auditions and Farkle wanted it back.  

"We should go check out our rooms." Farkle said before they could question with any further. They agreed and were almost out of the hall when somebody called out from behind them.  

"Hey! Hey, you with the brunette hair!" The voice called. They all turned to see a tall boy with short mahogany hair running up to them with one of Riley's smaller bags. he had thick eyebrows, and dimples. "Sorry, it's Riley right?" He asked, passing her the bag 

"Yes, thanks for that. I'm so forgetful." She said, smiling brightly, completely un-phased that she was talking to a stranger. Maya loved how friendly Riley could be. "I'm sorry, I don't know your name?"  

"Charlie. Charlie Gardner. I was pretty nervous during audition week so I kept to myself." Maya vaguely remembered his face, but she thought he had slightly longer hair before. "Maya?" He said towards her.  

"Yeah. Nice to meet you."  

"F...Fredrick?" He asked Farkle who was smiling very politely.  

"Farkle Minkus." He corrected and shook his hand.  

"Ah sorry, I've never met a Farkle before. Really unusual." He turned to Zay.  

"And you're Zay." Zay nodded and shook his hand. "You're a really good dancer."  

"Awh, thanks." Zay replied, looking very chuffed.  

"Well I'll see you guys around." He said, nodding his head in their direction.  

"Yeah, see you man." Zay told him.  

"Thanks again for the bag!" Riley said and they went back to walking to the elevator.  

"He seemed cool." Zay pointed out and everybody agreed. "And cute." 

"I thought he was really nice." Riley added, and Maya couldn't help but notice a little waver in Farkle's smile. A little jealousy perhaps? 

The floor of their flat was wonderful, it was really nice. Maya and Riley's room was much bigger than the one Maya had had before with Missy, and still about 5 times the size of her room at home that she couldn't even fit a proper bed into.  

Maya jumped onto her bed and breathed out, stretching both her arms out and relaxing. Riley did the same on her own bed and they giggled, feeling like little kids again on their first day of camp.  

"Thanks for being my roommate Riley." Maya said, turning her head so she could see her friend.  

"I'm happy to be. Just remember this is your room, so this is where you get changed, not in the boys changing room!" Riley teased and Maya threw her pillow at her. "Sorry, sorry. I still feel bad about that you know."  

"Don't be. It wouldn't have been that bad if Lucas hadn't told everybody." Maya figured he had been lying, something he was good at, when he told her he hadn't been the one talking about it.  

"Huh. That's funny." Riley sounded thoughtful. "You said Josh and Lucas both saw you in the changing room right?"  

"Yeah.."  

"Well the second years I heard the rumor off we're the ones hanging around with Josh at the party we went to. And I've seen them around him before. They seemed to be some of the first to know, so I assumed Josh told them. I mean, who would Lucas tell? He didn't know anybody, or talk to anybody that wasn't you." Riley explained and Maya thought about it. Had she been so blinded by her anger with him that she'd forgotten how illogical she was being about that whole rumor thing?  

Josh was the more likely option, he knew people, he didn't know Maya. If Lucas had been the one to tell he would have told the people she was auditioning with, not the older years. 

It didn't excuse what Lucas had done with the song, but at least Maya felt a little better knowing that she didn’t have any reason to doubt Lucas until the song thing. She'd been blaming herself, thinking it was her fault for trusting him. At least now she could be sure she couldn't have predicted what Lucas had done to her.  

"It’s going to be a good year." Riley said confidently. "I can feel it."  

* * *

 

Missy made sure Maya wasn’t in the corridor as she walked through it and quietly tapped on what she'd found out was Lucas' door. He opened it looking hopeful, but he looked miserable the second he saw it was Missy.  

"What, did you think your little girlfriend was going to come crawling back?" She mocked, raising her voice and sticking out her upper lip.  

"Go to hell Missy."  

"So feisty, I love it." She sneered. "I'm only here to make sure you keep up your side of the deal. Keep your mouth shut, and your secrets stays secret. You tell Maya a damn thing and I'll make sure you're hated by everybody."  

"Everybody already hates me." He snapped.  

"No they don’t. Right now they're tolerating you, which is the best you can hope for."  

"I'm not going to tell anybody. Now please, kindly fuck off." Missy shrugged and waved. Her hands may as well have been claws she was such an animal. Lucas slammed the door, returning back into his room. It felt lonely. But then, so did the academy. He wasn't willing to give up his secret, but the idea of going the next three years of his life here like this was just depressing. He didn't think he had it in him. But Missy was right, they didn't hate him. Maya maybe, but everybody else didn't even seem to notice him. He couldn't go back to how things were in Texas. Ever. 


	6. Party Away

Two weeks had passed and Maya was slowly settling in to her new classes and her new home. Dance classes were challenging, but she enjoyed the difficulty. It made her feel like she was slowly earning her place there. Normal lessons, english, math, science, and all the rest were slightly more tricky. Maya had never really excelled at school, and in the academy she was required to catch up and keep her grades at a certain level. If she didn't they'd stop her dancing and eventually throw her out.  

So she was studying. A lot.  

Her friends were helping as much as they could, which was great. Riley was more than happy to take her through her homework, and Zay was always happy to help her in English, which was a strong point for him. Farkle, who needed help keeping up in some of the dance classes, was helping her in exchange for a little assistance of his own. It worked nicely.  

Maya was Farkles partner in class, which was always fun. She'd originally been worried that she'd be put with Lucas, who she'd not spoken to since getting back. He kept to himself and even avoided her on the floor of the apartment. Lucas had been paired with Zay's old partner, and Zay was now with a nice girl called Sarah, and Riley had been paired with Charlie, who she was loving. He was a really funny apparently.  

This pairing made Farkle a little uncomfortable however, and he kept getting distracted by the two of them during class. He didn't mean to, he kept telling himself Riley was free to hang out with whoever she wanted, but it was a different story when Charlie's hands were all over her.  

After the day of classes, Riley grabbed Maya, a huge smile plastered on her face.  

"Maya! How would you feel about going to a party tonight? Josh invited me!"  

"Josh?" Why was she surprised? He was still a third year after all, he wasn't going anywhere.  

"Yeah, and he told me to bring friends, it'll be great." Riley told her, and without waiting for an answer, decided to rush off and ask the boys. She even asked Charlie who was thrilled to bits. As everybody else was going, Maya didn't feel there was any reason not to go, and otherwise she'd just be stuck in her room all night anyway. It would be good for her to go out, and she was sure she could borrow something off Riley to wear. She didn’t exactly need a lot of nice clothes at the home.  Her scholarship for this school did come with a living expenses allowance that she could spend on clothing if she so wished, but she just couldn't bring herself to spend more than she needed for food or school supplies. It didn't feel like her money, and until she felt like she'd earned up place at the academy she couldn't take their money. 

Riley loaned her a knee length purple dress and a brown belt that matched her brown boots, so Maya was very happy. Riley wore the cutest long white skirt and a pink shirt that contrasted perfectly with the dark brunette of her hair. The boys even put on the effort to wear shirts, Farkle's a light blue, Zay's was red and Charlie's was black. They all looked very smart indeed.  

As they walked to Joshs block of accommodation, the conversation was light and cheerful. Zay and Charlie, who Maya noticed got on like a house on fire, were chatting on about this book they both really liked, while Farkle and Riley were talking about the party. Farkle was very excited. Maya took these moments to think about something she knew she shouldn’t be, Lucas.  

Something about this whole thing just didn't make sense to her. If he was out to get her, why hadn't he tried again? Why not just lie about something else or make it impossible for her to stay? Was he waiting for something? 

But if he wanted to be her friend again, which seemed like the less likely of the options, why hadn't he said something? Why not talk to her and explain himself? 

His behavior just didn't make any sense and it was driving Maya crazy.  

When they arrived at the party, Maya could tell immediately that everybody was drunk. It reeked of booze in the flat, and each room was bursting with people laughing and falling over. Even a few first years Maya recognized were drinking like it was nothing.   

Riley made a beeline to Josh who came over to greet his new guests. He stumbled a little walking over, spilling the drink he had in his hand very slightly.  

"Hey! Glad you could all come, make yourself at home!" He spotted Maya. "I know you." 

"We've met before, I'm Maya!" Maya spoke up over the music. She prayed he wasn't going to remember the dressing room incident. 

"Nice to see you again." He grinned, and darted off when he spotted some other people. Maya grabbed herself a drink, unaware of what it was. She sipped it, checking if it had alcohol in it. Juice. Thank goodness. Riley took a cup, and Maya assured her it was just juice. The bottles next to it were to be added for the extra kick, but none of them wanted that. Farkle seemed grateful he didn't have to drink. Zay started to talk to Charlie again about drinking. 

"This is nothing, my friends and I used to love a good party!" He grabbed a drink and drank some of it, passing one to Charlie. "It's cool if you don’t drink though."  

"Nah, I have older sisters! You get pretty good at drinking with older siblings." Charlie drained his small drink in one, cheered, and then grabbed another. He threw his arm around Zay's shoulders and pulled him to go sit on a couple of spare chairs so they could chat a little more. Maya joined Riley and Farkle, who were talking to a few aquitances from class.  

The night was loud but a hell of a lot of fun. Maya met a range of people from every year, and all of them were really friendly. They spoke to her about managing her time between classes and extra training, and she made mental notes in her head. They were saying really helpful stuff. She spoke to Josh a couple times during the night, he was going around and talking to everybody. 

"Maya! Have you met my friend here." Josh asked, grabbing the shirt of some random guy and pulling him over. "He's a first year too." He pushed the guy to spin around and Maya recognized a very stressed looking Lucas.  

"No, I don't know him." Maya said, more to Lucas than Josh. "And from what I've heard, that's a good thing." She held his gaze, anger flaring in her eyes. Lucas didn't look mad, just defended. Sad, even.  

Lucas stalked off to the kitchen, regretting coming to this thing. A friend from the second year, who'd helped him find his way to a class last week had invited him, but he wished he'd not bothered. He should have known Maya would be here.  

"What was all that about?" Josh asked Maya, who rolled her eyes.  

"What do you mean?"  

"I remember, you knew that guy. We had lunch. I apologize, I'm a little slow. I'm just a bit drunk." Josh laughed.  

"We had a fight. I don’t want to talk to him." Maya stated firmly. 

"His loss." Josh said kindly, placing his hand on her shoulder, and giving Maya a sympathetic look. Maya looked at him, remembering quite how attractive he was. She spotted Lucas out of the corner of her eye, and it gave her the courage she needed to grab Josh and pull him in for a hug. She buried her head into his shoulder, just wanting to make Lucas leave. Josh hugged her tightly, knowing how bad it felt to fall out with friends.  

"Thanks Josh." Maya said, pulling away. Lucas was gone now, which was good.  

"Any time. You want to go play a game of ping pong?" He asked and Maya nodded. They had the table set up in the flats kitchen, it was pretty sweet.  

Maya proceeded to beat Josh many times at ping pong, mostly because he was pretty out of it. Maya was very jealous that he was Riley's uncle, and that they were so close.  It must have been really great to grow up with somebody like this in your life. Maya couldn't even imagine having a family, let alone a good one. 

Riley came to find Maya a little later on, telling her they should get going so they didn't break curfew. Maya agreed, said a quick goodbye to Josh and they went to find Farkle. He was stood, looking very shocked at a corner in the room.  

"Shh!" He told the girls the second they stood by him. They looked where Farkle was looking and they saw Zay had somebody in the corner, and was making out with them quite passionately. One of his hands was pushed against the wall, blocking the view of the person's head, and the other was wrapped around their waist.  

"Who is it?" Maya asked, glad her friend had met somebody.  

"I've no idea." Farkle shrugged. "I mean, he's pretty drunk, so it could be anybody." 

"Wait..." Riley said, crooking her neck slightly to the side. "Isn't that...?" Her voice trailed off as Zay moved his arm downwards so it revealed who he was kissing. A very content looking Charlie had his arms wrapped around Zay.  

"Well, that isn't quite who I was expecting." Farkle said, chuckling a little to himself.  

"So that's why they've been really friendly." Maya added. She thought it was actually quite sweet, the way they'd been getting so close in the last couple weeks.  

"Do we disturb them?" Riley asked, looking at the boys who'd not even notice the three of them staring.  

"I think we should, we don't want them to miss curfew." They all agreed and called out their names, pretending they hadn't seen the two of them making out and like they were just looking for them. Zay and Charlie both moved apart quite quickly, answering to their names. They all headed out together, and Maya had the pleasure of half carrying Zay, as his arm was over her shoulder as they walked. He really was quite drunk. Charlie was better, but was still wobbling all over the place.  

He said his goodbye's, getting off the elevator the floor below them. Everybody considered questioning Zay on his activities at the party, but they didn't want to seem too nosy. Besides, they doubted he was up for answering many questions right now.   

Farkle whisked Zay off to their room, and Maya went to fetch a drink before bed. Lucas, much to her surprise, was sitting in the kitchen. She ignored him at first but then decided she couldn’t help herself.  

"I just can't figure you out." She told him. He looked up, surprised, but didn't reply to what she said "Because if you hated me, then you wouldn’t seem so damn sad around me. It's almost like you regret what you did. But if you liked me, as a friend or anything else, you never would have done what you did. You're like a fucking paradox. Either you did it from spite and evilness, and you're acting like you're sad, or you didn't do it at all. But then you're lying to me. So _please_ , can you just explain to me why you're acting like you are."  

"I care about you Maya, and because I care, I don't want you to hate me" He said reluctantly.

"So, what? You didn't swap the songs? Or you did and now you regret it?" Lucas sighed, stuck in an impossible position.  

"If I had done what you think I've done." He said, phrasing his words carefully. "Then I'd regret it very much. And it would have been a huge mistake."  

"Did you regret me kissing you?" Along with everything else, what had hurt. That was technically Mayas first kiss, even if it was just a quick peck. 

"I think it was a spur of the moment thing. And that you weren't think it through, and neither was I. But Maya, if I had done switched the songs, I would be truly sorry. And if I didn't do it, I would be sorry that somebody did that to you, and that I lied and told you it was me."  

"I still don’t understand. Did you do it, or not?" Mayas head was swimming with thoughts. This guy was a puzzle.  

"You should get to bed." Was his only response as he walked past her to get to his bedroom. "Goodnight Maya."  

God damn him, Maya thought.  

That conversation hadn't helped her at all, she was more confused than ever. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I know Zay and Charlie might feel a little odd at first, based on the show, but I think their personalities would just go so nicely together , and I wanted to explore their dynamic. I'll go more into their story in the next chapter, but I hope you liked this one!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! This is going to be a pretty long fanfic so I hope you enjoy!


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